What can make it this obvious?

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What can make autism/Aspergers so obvious that all you have to is look at them to tell they have it without even talking to them?

That really depends on how much the observer knows about the condition. The most obviously autistic thing I do is stimming, which people can see without talking to me. I also stare at the ground, avoid people, pace around, have a blank expression on my face, and talk to myself a lot so to the trained eye (or maybe the untrained eye, I don't know) I am rather obviously autistic even if they don't talk to me.

In fact: if someone starts talking to me then I will start my NT act which may make my autism less obvious. I still am not perfect at masking my slower language processing and my social skills are not the best, so someone could still probably tell.

I think it's fairly obvious that I have some screws loose, but I don't know how obvious it is that autism is the cause.

Obvious to whom?

If you mean obvious to most NT people who are not trained healthcare workers then the answers is that there are probably countless many things you might do that will make it "obvious" to them that you're "some kind of weirdo",but since most Nts don't spend 24/7 thinking about autism, and most have virtually no grasp of what autism is, very few in the NT public will peg any weirdness about you specifically to autism.

Why are you asking?

There is no widely known stereotypical thing for autism like there is with say homosexuality. A male comic can go into a limp wristed act - and the audience knows that hes pretending to be a stereotypical gay guy. there is nothing equivalent for autism.

Last edited by naturalplastic on 21 Apr 2016, 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

I didn't know a lot about autism before I realised that I might have it, and did some thorough research. But I think for me the biggest 'tell' is the gait, the way of walking, when it seems quite stiff. I've definitely identified autistic people based on their walk before, and then had it confirmed. Also, a bit of a 'lost' look - like they're staying in someone else's presence, such as a family member, but don't seem to be properly connecting to them by interacting with them. Additionally, though I don't understand the cause of this, in some of the most noticeable cases the facial expression which I would describe as very 'top teeth on show'.

Interestingly, whilst my gait is very 'bouncy' which I've heard is quite common, I actually think (possibly because I'm used to my own gait because I've always had it), I don't think I would immediately notice someone that was 'bouncy' rather than 'stiff' and think "they have autism". Even though, possibly, a trained eye might notice me and instantly pick up on that.

Obviously those things don't apply to all autistic people, though - there are probably many that I pass without even realising. Clearly you only notice when there's something outward to notice, so it's a bit of confirmation bias. Whilst I can say that I feel like I do notice autistic people just from looking at them, when out and about, there are undoubtedly many more that aren't as immediately noticeable to me.

Drooling
Hand flapping
Making funny sounds
Shrieking
Head banging
Rocking non stop
Have no facial expressions
Be silent and not respond
Have a strange body posture and walk different
Speak with a robotic tone
Repeat words people say to you over and over
Head nodding over and over
Starring and never turning your head


Do all these together will make it so obvious. People will know something is off about you. If they don't know about autism, they will think of mental retardation. But anything milder I wouldn't be able to tell because I don't go around labeling people with autism over a few things or over one thing like leaving parties early not not contributing to any discussions, fiddling with a pen. Even I can't tell in my group. There is one woman who is always doing activities with her hands making things and I wouldn't even know those were self stimulation if she didn't say so. To everyone else, that looks like normal behavior. And someone saying how much they hate talking on the phone, I am not going to assume they have autism or if someone says they get nervous in social situations.

^^^^This plus the fact that most people would go to other thoughts/issues that the person may 'be' due to mainstream ignorance.

You fiddle with things...you're just antsy.
You pace a lot when thinking...you're just engrossed
You pace a lot when talking... You're back to being antsy and filled with nervous energy

I agree...most people just don't think about it. They just slap on a label based off their experience/knowledge.

But, I am not young like many here who say they hear people ask if they are autistic or use it as a slam (kinda like when I would cringe when my daughter would say "That's so gay" when that was 'fashionable') or just outright said someone appeared autistic. I've never heard that, but, I'm an old shut in.

some things I do that I think may give me away ....
1. I get distracted by lights.... I tend to look up a lot when walking because it feels AWESOME to me to look at them. And my first words happened to be "Light Hot" ... go figure
2. If I am focused on something and they try to say HI to me they have asked me later if I was mad at them. My face has a look to it that they say looks angry when I am distracted. Most likely it is because I am that they interrupted me.
3. I tend to say things and do things in 3.... a bit of OCD there... but if we are talking about something and I do repeat the phrase I often say it 3 times before I catch myself. It is very hard to NOT do that.